Advice Please...Can this photo be improved at all!?

[ddt0725]

Late in the afternoon after work, I was outtaking a few photos ofbirds (mostly fighting the shadows of the trees) when I caught this out of the corner of my eye and quickly turned to try and capture it. I ended up with a blurry goose (result of lack of tripod), overexposed water right where the bird was flying and the sun was reflecting before setting. Also, the trees look super dull!

Is there anyway this photo can be improved in pp? I am not very good at postprocessing except for maybe a increase alittle of this, decrease alitle of that! [:P] I have elements and a number of other programs but not photoshop. This is the best I can do with it ...believe me the RAW file is in alot worse shape!

Any suggestions at all greatly appreciated!

[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.37.26/Nature.jpg[/img]


Oh well, right before leaving at least I got a shot of a bird I never saw before, a Cedar Waxwing...

[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.37.26/IMG_5F00_8372.JPG[/img]


Thanks,

Denise

[Jon Ruyle]

But I really it (the top one). It would be nice without the bird, but the bird makes it really nice. The sharpness is okay. Not all pics have to be super sharp. The water reflection is only a little overexposed. And I don't think the trees look dull. Maybe turning up the contrast and maybe the saturation a bit might help, but then again, that depends a lot on taste, and one can go too far.

[ddt0725]

Thanks, Jon. I think I'll just mess around with it alittle more. There is something about it that is bugging me but I can't get it right. You are correct about going to far on saturation. Every time I tried to increase a tad, it looked to much and made it worse. Maybe it is just the position of the sun that is making the back trees look "blah" to me. I think i am going to go out there again soon and try to "re-create" at a different time of day.

Thanks again,


Denise